NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday flayed the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties for disrupting the Lok Sabha during the introduction of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned amid protests, and the minister spoke to the media at the BJP headquarters just hours before the Bill was taken up in the Rajya Sabha. Chouhan said, “The conduct displayed by the Congress and INDIA Alliance MPs in the Lok Sabha today has badly stained democracy and torn apart parliamentary decorum. They turned the democracy into mob rule and thuggery.”
Calling the Opposition’s actions “disgraceful”, Chouhan said, “There was a discussion on the Bill. The discussion began on Wednesday, but today the Opposition’s indecent conduct—tearing and throwing papers, and climbing tables—has tarnished democracy. Is it not a murder of Bapu Ji’s ideals?” He alleged that democracy had been reduced to “mobocracy” and “hooliganism”.
He said, “What was the fuss over the name of the Bill? The opposition is only concerned about the name, but we are more focused on work.”
Opposition had been protesting in Parliament, demanding the removal of the law’s original name, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA). Hitting back, Chouhan asked whether Mahatma Gandhi would have accepted such “disgraceful” conduct.
The minister said he had listened patiently to 98 MPs who spoke during the debate in the Lok Sabha and stressed the importance of discussion. “I was fully prepared to give my reply.
But they did not allow me to complete my reply and disrupted the House’s proceedings. I am deeply hurt by the behaviour of the opposition,” he said. Accusing the Congress of indulging in political theatrics, the minister claimed that during the UPA government’s tenure, only 1,660 crore human-days of work were generated, while the NDA government had created 3,210 crore human-days. He also said the Congress-led government spent `2.13 lakh crore on MGNREGA, compared to over `8.53 lakh crore spent by the NDA government.
According to him, the VB-G RAM G Bill would make rural employment more comprehensive, inclusive and results-oriented, while promoting development, convergence and saturation.